It isn't easy when your emotional state is demolished. When the ceiling of your soul caves in on you and the walls of your heart crumble it is only a matter of time before the floor falls out from under your feet and you find yourself in shambles with no salvation to support you.

And it probably wasn't his fault the building went down, given the record of both the company and the worker who turned himself in. Of course, it's a speculation that the two events were connected--perhaps his suicide had nothing to do with work.

I would suggest that in the future, vulnerable buildings like the thrift shop be closed during the critical stages of demolition.

It looks like the safety measures were inadequate--I didn't see any sign of fences or scaffolding to protect pedestrians from a falling brick, let alone a falling wall. Too much laissez-faire and not enough oversight and accountability.

Thank the gods they weren't using handguns to shoot the building down.

AttawaYawattA:It isn't easy when your emotional state is demolished. When the ceiling of your soul caves in on you and the walls of your heart crumble it is only a matter of time before the floor falls out from under your feet and you find yourself in shambles with no salvation to support you.

So, the real perpetrator of this disaster was a failed building inspection which should have indicated the danger in demolishing this building, but yet gave to "go ahead" to do the demolition. That inspector knew it and killed himself for it. But that wont let the machinery operator off the hook- just because he said he was stoned.

brantgoose:I would suggest that in the future, vulnerable buildings like the thrift shop be closed during the critical stages of demolition.

Good luck. Most row businesses have apartments above the store level.

The thrift store didn't, but the also-damaged building to the rear does. So did the building on South Street whose alley collapsed two days ago, due to another building demo. (That one caused by water pooling in the post-demo excavation.

So, the real perpetrator of this disaster was a failed building inspection which should have indicated the danger in demolishing this building, but yet gave to "go ahead" to do the demolition. That inspector knew it and killed himself for it. But that wont let the machinery operator off the hook- just because he said he was stoned.

So really Pot Deaths = 0

That is the way it is starting to look. But the excavator operator is still going to be the scapegoat.

Gonz:Vodka Zombie: We need more of this level of accountability in America.

"Expect someone to do the honorable thing" is a hell of a concept. And I tend to agree with you- a society where people take full responsibility for their actions is a good thing.

Well, considering the Wall Street shenanigans, if we had these sorts of "honorable" people there, I'd imagine the mop and shovel and bucket industry would be booming. Those sidewalks won't clean themselves, ya know?

So, the real perpetrator of this disaster was a failed building inspection which should have indicated the danger in demolishing this building, but yet gave to "go ahead" to do the demolition. That inspector knew it and killed himself for it. But that wont let the machinery operator off the hook- just because he said he was stoned.

So really Pot Deaths = 0

Not only did he give the go ahead, he went back after people complained and reported no violations.